New business owner loses everything in fire

A fire destroyed six businesses in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on March 3 - Contributed

Labrador barbershop owner didn’t have insurance

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. —

A GoFundMe account has been set up for a Happy Valley-Goose Bay woman who lost everything in a fire last week.

Shirley White, owner of Shirley’s Barber Shop, had recently set up her own shop in town and didn’t have business insurance.

Hanie Digout, White’s daughter, said her mother worked hard to get her own shop and was so happy to be the owner of her own business. White had previously apprenticed in another barber shop in town for six years.

“She was so proud to have this, something of her own,” her daughter said via a phone interview. “Then this fire happened and she lost everything, she doesn’t know what to do.”

She said in addition to her mother being out of work now there was thousands of dollars in equipment in the shop she can’t afford to replace.

“She had a beautiful antique barber chair in there, that cost a fair bit by itself.”

Digout is hoping the community can help rally around her mother and assist her in getting through this difficult time. She set up the GoFundMe to help with that and hopes it can help.

The fire, which swept through a strip mall in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on March 3, destroyed six businesses, including White’s. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.